The world dietary supplement market is growing rapidly with a +100% growth rate expected from now to 2025 to jump from €107Bn to €218Bn1. Laboratories must continuously renew themselves in order to adapt to the market’s evolution and trends. This means in particular new and more sophisticated formulations which require having capacity and expertise in developing important products. To get to know more on a very important position, we asked our expert Patrice Garcin some questions.
- Can you tell us what your job consists of?
As Head of Galenic Development, I am in charge of all product formulations. With my team, we design the theoretical formulas, and validate them through tests, then we transfer an industrial recipe to our production department with the technical constraints and a manufacturing flow chart.
- What qualifications do you have and how long have you been with the company for?
I have a scientific background specialising in industrial pharmaceutical engineering coupled with 15 years of experience in two laboratories as a formulator. I joined PileJe Industrie 11 years ago.
- Who composes your team? What are their respective positions?
There are four of us: two technicians specialising in galenics who carry out all of the tests on our pilot platform, an operations development project manager who designs the theoretical formulas and also looks after the ERP – software which allows us to manage our resources – and myself, I manage the department and validate galenic formulas.
- What place does product development hold in the organisation of the company?
It is at the heart of the company! As well as being at the initial stage of each client’s formulation project, we constantly and closely interact with the different departments (Sales, Manufacturing Process, Quality Control and Assurance…) to ensure that products are transferred from the development to industrial manufacturing stages.
- Can you describe how a product is developed? What are the different stages?
First of all, we get a development brief from a customer. Then the project follows three key stages in product development.
The opportunity stage: we establish the theoretical formula and the product price.
The feasibility stage: we study the contours of the project in more detail and we supply development and stability prices. We call on several departments to study subjects such as subcontracting and buying non-existing tools.
Lastly comes the development stage: the product goes through our hands for testing, launching a stability study and establishing the final recipe before transferring to production.
- What are the keywords to translate PiLeJe Industrie’s expertise in your dietary supplement formulation and development activities?
Regarding the team I would say qualified and versatile. For equipment, I think that high performing is the keyword, particularly in terms of compression with our new compression robot.
- What differentiates you from your competition regarding innovation?
Regarding innovation, thanks to our expertise in the probiotic sector we are permanently innovating in particular with tablet forms.
And what makes us different? Our technical platform is of a rare size in the dietary supplement sector (approximately 400 m2). It is equipped with high-performing machines which allow us to manufacture at a laboratory scale and pilot all galenic forms (capsules, tablets, and coating, etc.) with perfect formula precision.
Also one of our special features is that we integrate our own ingredient solutions into our customers’ formulas, for example ipowder® and Hypro-ri®, but we also specially develop specific ingredients upon our customers’ requests.
The dietary supplement market is marked today by a growing demand of naturalness from consumers. In this way the plant-based dietary supplement category is progressing faster than the global market with +9% v +6% between 2016 and 20172. In this context it is crucial for laboratories to have the capacity to adapt, reformulate and innovate.
From sourcing to manufacturing, discover PiLeJe Industrie’s expertise by contacting our teams.